Panem: The Future for the Seven?
by Kittyaceres
Summary: Imagine Percy and Annabeth never came out of Tartarus. What would happen? Could they be so important that they determine the fate of the rest? Yes, they could. This happens, and the other five fail their quest. During the battle of Camp Half-Blood, Octavian manages to become one of three half-bloods/legacies left. He uses his power to create Panem-and you know how that turned out.
1. Chapter 1 How long have I been out?

Annabeth wakes up in what seems like a hospital. She tries to recall what had happened. All she can remember was going through the doors with Percy.

They had accidentally opened too early, and Percy was fist to fall. Annabeth followed, but she didn't land next to Percy. She had landed in a jungle. Annabeth saw a girl hacking into another's arm. The girl who had her arm chopped at wailed in pain, but she got up. She had a coil of wire, and she tied it around an arrow. She cocked the arrow, and shot it at the sky.

Annabeth didn't expect what happened next. The sky literally fell apart, revealing that it was in fact a dome. It was night when the arrow was shot, and behind the dome it was day. A pulse of electricity electrocuted both of them. A hover craft plucked them out of the sky, another boy as well, but it wasn't Percy. Percy was on the ground calling Annabeth's name and crying as she was lifted to the craft without him. Annabeth couldn't move, but she yelled Percy's name over and over, trying to let him know she wasn't ditching him. Then she yelled at the craft.

"Take him! Take Percy too! Let me go or bring him too!" Once she was safely aboard the hovercraft and could move she had banged against the hovercraft door so hard that she had put a dent in it. Then they drugged her. She has dull memories of waking up before now.

Remembering this makes her jump up. She realizes she's restrained to the bed and fights to get out. No one comes, so Annabeth stops struggling and tries a different strategy. She calms down and studies the hospital room.

A young girl walks up to Annabeth cautiously. "Command would like to see you if you're ready," she says. Annabeth nods eagerly.

The girl unlocks the restraints and holds Annabeth's hand. They go down where several people are waiting for them. Annabeth recognizes the girl from the jungle and the other person who got lifted. Annabeth noticed he was asleep and in a wheel chair. There are two officers, and a woman who seems like the leader. There is a boy standing next to the girl from the jungle. He is holding her sword that she had gotten from Damasen.

The leader speaks up. "Good afternoon."

"Where's Percy?" is Annabeth's reply.

"Who's Percy?" the woman asks. Frustration builds up in Annabeth. She crosses her arms and glares at the woman.

"Was Percy that guy who was yelling as you got lifted up?" the girl from the jungle asks. Annabeth nods.

"How did you two get into the arena anyway? We know you arrived before it collapsed. I almost forgot. What's your name?" the leader asked.

"Annabeth Chase. You?"

"I am President Coin. This is Boggs, Plutarach Heavensbee, that man snoozing is Finnick O'Dair, and these two are Katniss Everdeen and Gale Hawthorne," President Coin replies. Annabeth nods to everyone.

Annabeth is going to answer when some music plays on the television, which had been left on. It catches the attention of everyone, so Annabeth assumes she should also watch. There is a man in a sparkly suit who has a close up. Annabeth's eyes grow wide when she sees how much make up he's wearing.

"Gods," she mutters. No one pays attention to her. The camera pulls out to reveal a boy sitting next to him along with…Percy. Annabeth forces herself to keep her cool as Katniss is unable to do. Katniss pushes through the crowd until she has her hand resting on the tv.

"So, Peeta…welcome back. Percy, welcome as well," the painted man says. Annabeth doesn't bother watching the blonde kid, Peeta, for her eyes rest on Percy. Percy has an uncomfortable look on his face.

"I bet you thought you'd done your last interview with me, Caesar," Peeta jokes.

"I admit, I did," Caesar says. "The night before the Quarter Quell…well, whoever thought we'd see you again? And Percy, How did you show up in the arena? Amazing."

"Is that your plan? Make me say my ways on live tv? Well, it won't make any sense," Percy turned his head so he was looking directly at the camera, "and even though I didn't disappear again, the never separated again thing is not going well." Percy smiles with that smile that used to always drive Annabeth crazy. She can feel tears rushing down her face.

"I know," she whispers to the tv so that no one can hear her. Only Finnick, who had woken up a few minutes ago, sees her lips move. Then he passes out again.

"Were you talking to the cameraman?" Caesar asks. Percy's smile grows and he rolls his eyes. It was pretty obvious that he was talking to Annabeth.

"Well, Caesar, it wasn't my plan to survive, but other people had plans as well," Peeta says as he traces the pattern on the chair.

Percy pulls out Riptide, and fingers it. He keeps it in pen form the entire time. There is an awkward silence, during which, Percy glances at the screen, and Annabeth knows he is looking at her, even though he can't see her and be sure she is watching. Annabeth doesn't pay full attention to the rest, until the very end. Peeta is asking for a cease-fire, for whatever reason. Then the screen turns to black. Everyone, except Finnick, who is still sleeping, turns back around.

"Now, Annabeth, we have a question for you. How did you get into the arena?" Coin asks.

"The arena?" Annabeth replies.

"For the Hunger Games," Boggs supplements. Annabeth still has no clue what they are talking about.

"Wow, you must have had an extremely nice childhood if you don't know what the Hunger Games are," Katniss sighs.

Annabeth recalls her life In her head. Her stepmom was mean to her, her step family never treated her like she belonged, her running away, the monster attacks, training at Camp Half-Blood, almost dieing on quests with Percy, the Titan war, watching Luke sacrifice himself, losing Percy for eight damn months, going on this new quest, losing her knife and Dadealus's laptop in Tartarus, going through Tartarus with Percy, and finally being separated from him again and plopped on opposite sides of a freaking war. There were good things too. Watching movies with her dad in San Fransisco, dating Percy, and those days at CampHalf-Blood before Percy showed up and everything started going wrong. That wasn't Percy's fault but it happened when he showed up.

"Are you kidding me? My life sucks. Capital S-u…" Annabeth stops because she has dyslexia, so she isn't sure how to spell the rest of the word. "…k-s, c-k-s, x? I don't know how to spell the rest of the word. I had to stop a war, I ran away from home, my boyfriend gets abducted, and now I'm in another war against Mother Earth, a.k.a mother of all evil. Not to mention I spent the last two weeks in Tartarus, which is not human-friendly," Annabeth says.

"Tartarus?" Gale asks.

Annabeth can't find a way to answer, so she says, "Basically, it's hell, where monsters live."

Katniss nods, although it's obvious she's not getting it. "President Coin, may Annabeth, Gale and I go to the surface?" she asks.

"Sure, Soldier Everdeen. Soldier Boggs, go with them," President Coin answers. Boggs leads the three up to the surface. An ugly yellow cat jumps into Annabeth's arms and hisses at Katniss. Once they are on the surface, the cat jumps out of her arms and disappears.

"Why are we up here?" Annabeth asks.

"Ugh, I hate underground. Just wanted some fresh air," Katniss answers.

"Annabeth!" they hear a voice yell. Annabeth recognizes it and sees Frank being held back by guards. She runs over and asks the guards to let him go.

"Sorry, miss. He snuck in and we need to bring him to Coin," one of the guards say.

"No I didn't! I was brought here! From District 12! Now let me go!" Frank protests.

"Sorry kid."

Annabeth notices that Frank has his bow and arrows. "Fly," she mouths.

Frank understands her. He shakes his head. Annabeth points to his bows and arrows ever so slightly so no one else sees. Franks turns into bird, flies up onto the roof, and once in human form, he whips out his bow loaded with an Imperial gold arrow. He trains it on the guards before they even know what happened.

"Don't shoot!" Frank yells as the guards finally realize they need to point their guns at him.

"And why not? You're a mutt," the guard says. He doesn't shoot because he knows that if he did, he would have an arrow in his head when the bullets hit Frank. Or so he thinks. Annabeth knows the metal and that it will go straight through the guards since they are mortal.

Annabeth laughs out loud so hard the other guard points his gun at her. She quickly stops. "Sorry, it's just that you are so wrong that if you knew…and understood, you wouldn't be able to not laugh. Am I right?"

"Yeah, except for me that joke got old fast along time ago. I did laugh the first time, and the second," Frank answered.

"So… how did you do that?" Katniss asked.

"Three thousand years ago, my great-times-a-million grandfather bestowed the gift of changing into animals to his son and then it got passed down through my family. Got any other questions, Katniss?" Frank answered. Annabeth got the feeling he wanted to put the word _stupid_ in there.

"Uh, how do you know my name? I haven't told you yet," Katniss said.

"I remember the day I first met you. It's not a day I like to recall. Your mom was nice to me though. And Prim," Frank said.

Katniss rips Annabeth's sword from Gale's hands and points it at Frank. "He sounds like your cat, Catnip." Gale says to Katniss. Annabeth hears and bursts out laughing again. She realized that Katniss's cat was actually Frank.

"I'm so sorry, Frank," she sympathizes.

"Ugh. I'm coming down now," Frank says. He makes a very careful shot at the guard's gun and rips a hole in the catalog and bullets spill out. He does the same to the other gun and flies down. Katniss drops Annabeth's sword and picks up an arrow.

"What is this metal? I know steel would never do that," She asks.

"Relax, it's harmless. Mostly," Frank says as he pulls it from her grip and puts it back in the quiver, which melts into a backpack along with the bow.

"Mostly?" Gale asks.

"Yeah, except for a select few. Two of which are here right now," Frank explains.

"Three," Annabeth corrects, "Percy's in the capitol." Frank's face shows horror.

"Oh, actually, if we're counting total, that I know of, there are four. Katniss, fill Annabeth in about President Snow," Frank directs.

"I don't—"

"Do it!" Frank yells. One of the guards points his disarmed gun at Frank's head.

"President Snow. I don't know his first name, but he is the President of Panem. He sends twenty four kids to a death battle known as the Hunger Games and takes pleasure from it. He executes anyone who contradicts him or tries to overthrow him. Their family and anyone else they care about, as well. Sufficient?" Katniss says.

Frank nods. "Annabeth, his first name is Octavian. Octavian Snow." Annabeth doesn't understand. "He's distrustful, and used to always try to worm his way up to power. Now he's praetor of his own little country where he murders children instead of teddy bears," Frank continues. "Annabeth, you landed in the future. You never came out of Tartarus."

Annabeth's eyes grow wide with horror. "Frank, what happened? How did that little snake, Octavian get power? What idiot gave him it anyway?" Annabeth demands.

"We opened the Doors of Death, expecting to find you and Percy, but they were empty. We got defeated in the House of Hades and lost Nico in the struggle. Reyna was waiting for us outside, but we had to send her back. We lost Leo and Jason against Gaea and the gants. We managed to kill the giants, but Gaea got away. We had to take a plane back to America and abandon ship. In the war of the camps, it affected the rest of America. America got into another war, which you guys," Frank points to Katniss and Gale, "call the Dark Ages. Every half-blood except Octavian, Hazel and I died. I only survived because Mars put a blessing that made it impossible for me to die or age. I protected Hazel and tried to do the same for Piper, but she sacrificed herself. Hazel was executed to get at me. I had a dream that her father gave her life and memories, but I have yet to find her. I heard rumors that she was in District 12, so that's where I went. Anyway, now that Octavian has Percy in his clutches, he's going to torture him just to the point of death. Octavian is still mad at Percy. Sure knows how to hold a grudge."

"Oh, my gods. That's horrible!" is all that Annabeth can manage to say. One of the guards glances at his arm.

"It's time for Reflection. Annabeth, Frank, you two shou—"

"They can come with me. If that's okay with you two," Gale offers. Annabeth and Frank nod nervously.

"I need to get Buttercup," Katniss says.

"Not gonna play that game anymore," Franks says.

Katniss finally realizes who Buttercup was actually. "Oh, Prim's not going to be happy about this," she says.

"Prim has grown quickly. I'm sure she'll manage," Frank reassures her.

They all head inside.


	2. Chapter 2 Camp Half-Blood Salvaged

Hazelle Hawthorne glances at the clock on the wall. It's almost 18:00. Where is Gale. Hazelle isn't happy about living underground. District 12 had little gemstones so she was okay, but here they came from the ground, the walls and the ceiling. She had to restart her collection. It was a little hard to explain to her children about the gemstones. A large ruby pops out at Hazelle's feet, so she scoops it up and puts it in the vase.

She sits on the couch and pulls out her locket, which has pictures of the three men she ever loved—one from the three times she lived. The pictures are of Sammy Valdez, Frank Zhang, and Hunter Hawthorne.

Hazelle recalls a time when she didn't live in Panem. Hazelle's maiden name is Serrano. She stares at Frank's picture, and remembers when she went by the name Hazel Levesque. Hazel has died twice and been reborn twice. During her second life, she was killed by Octavian Snow. Considering the fact he was president, during her third life she had to change her name. She remembers how badly she messed up. During the war, she only survived because she had Frank to protect her.

Hazel is slipping the locket back into her shirt when her son, Gale, walks in…with visitors. Hazel recognizes the visitors, but manages to somewhat keep her cool.

"Mom, is it okay if these two stay here during Reflection?" Gale asks.

"Oh, uh, um, we—what are their names?" She asked. _Unless I don't already know them,_ she thought.

Gale was a little confused by his mother's stumbling, but he answered, "She is Annabeth and he is Frank."

A diamond pops up at Hazel's feet. Gale's eyes grow wide and he leans down to pick it up. "Don't touch it!" Hazel yells quickly. Gale's hand hovers literally an inch over the diamond before he stops. Hazel glances at everyone, then puts her hand out slowly, makes a fist and slams it down quickly. The diamond disappears. Hazel looks at the teenagers' expressions. Gale is confused, Annabeth is confused and suspicious, and Frank, who knew her best, is totally suspicious.

"What's your name?" he asks, somewhat sure that this woman is actually his girlfriend. If so, he's got a problem because she is physically way older than him. She has a son who's physically older than him.

"Hazelle," Hazel lies.

"Last name?"

"Hawthorne," Hazel says, which isn't a lie.

"Maiden name?"

"Le-Serrano." Hazel is aware of several diamonds, emeralds, rubies, gold, silver, and other precious metals and gems popping out of the ground.

Frank squints at her, unconvinced. He takes Hazel's hands in his, which makes her unintentionally blush. By now, both Frank and Hazel have assumed each other's identity, they're just making sure. "Hazelle, what's your real name? Is it Hazel Levesque?"

Hazel jerked her hands away from Frank and rushes into her room. She picks up the piece of firewood that she had kept for Frank. It is still in the bag that Leo had given them. Hazel is about to go back out when she spies the drawer where she has carefully hidden her spatha. Hazel pulls it out, and thinks about why she should keep it with her. Frank might not be Frank Zhang, but a capitol mutt that looks and acts like Frank Zhang. You can't be sure until you're sure.

Back in the living room, Gale and Frank are having a stare-off. Annabeth is watching, giggling. It would be funny, but one of them is her son, the other is her old boyfriend/capitol mutt that looks like her boyfriend getting ready to take her to the capitol.

"How did you find me?" Hazel asks, sword pointed at Frank cautiously. Gale's mouth is gaping staring at this sword that he never knew his mother had. He was surprised his mother could even hold it, for it was incredibly long.

"Wha-what?" Frank asks, thrown off by the sword his girlfriend is holding to his face.

"Yes. I am Hazel Levesque. I was. Now I am Hazelle Hawthorne. Are you working for Octavian? And, how did you find me?" Hazel asks warily.

Frank bursts out laughing. "Me? Working for that idiot? Never in a million years. I can't believe it. I saw you almost every day and had no idea that it was actually you Hazel. I only started to have my suspicions when I saw that," he laughs, and points to the precious items at her feet.

Hazel had forgotten about the gems and metals at her feet. "Right. Those. Stupid curse. That's one reason I moved to District 12, other than the coal, there's nothing to give me away there. Just a few diamonds here and there. Coal never really was precious enough for the curse."

"Wait, Mom, if you can summon diamonds, why didn't you use them for money?" Gale asks.

"I am pretty sure I said it was a curse, right? They're cursed. During my first life, I used them for money and people we paid died," Hazel answered.

"Oh." Gale says. Hazel goes and re-hides her spatha. While she is gone, the precious stuff goes away.

The clock beeps, signaling that is dinnertime. Gale rounds up his brothers and sister. He leads them to the dining hall. Hazel holds back Annabeth and Frank.

"We need to talk," is all she gets in before her son pokes his head in and beckons them. Later at the dining hall, the three huddle at the end of the table.

"Oh, Annabeth, we thought you were dead! Wait, where's Percy?" Hazel says.

"Capitol."

"No!" Hazel yells, grabbing everyone's attention. "Sorry," she says. She resumes whispering, "The capitol? With Octavian? Not good, not good, not good. I have no idea what he's going to do to him The best we can hope for is locking him up. Second best, killing him. Sorry Annabeth, but it's true."

"I know," Annabeth takes a bite of her food, "There are things worse than death. I just hope that Percy will stay strong. Who knows what Octavian will do to him? I just know that Percy will always remember me."

The trio is silent, but Frank breaks the silence, "Hazel, why did you go to District Twelve?"

"I wanted to go somewhere where I knew you would find me," Hazel replies. Gale is listening to this and finds it very gross that his mom is flirting with a sixteen-year old.

"I looked in District Four first. That's where Camp Jupiter was. You weren't there," Frank complains. "I went to Twelve because I was wandering the woods and I heard your name,"

"Think about it. About Camp Jupiter. What was it to the Romans?" Hazel clues.

Frank thinks for a few moments. His face lights up. "Oh, you're a genius. The Twelfth Legion! I can't believe Octavian didn't think about that!"

"He was too busy focusing on keeping his power," Hazel replies.

"Well, Hazel, that was very clever. If all I knew about you was that you were a demigod, I would guess you were a child of Athena," Annabeth compliments.

"Thanks. It was just a little connection I made in my head. I almost didn't go there, because I thought that Octavian might make that connection, but he didn't." Hazel relishes.

Soon everyone is done, but Hazel and Frank still need to eat their bread. They sit there staring at it like it is poison.

"We could just not eat it, right?" Frank asks.

"They have nutrition down to a science. We have to eat it," Hazel sighs.

"Fine. I'll get more water, if they'll let me," Frank jokes. He takes Hazel's and his cups and goes to fill them. When he comes back, he and Hazel gulp down the bread washing it down with lots of water.

They leave the dining hall. It was 20:00, and Katniss's mother offered to watch Hazel's children while they took care of other business. They couldn't get rid off Katniss or Gale, so they take them along.

Hazel is going to take Annabeth(and Percy, had he been here) to see her old trainer, Chiron. Hazel remembered Chiron, for he had trained her during the Dark Days. She is hesitant to take Katniss, since she doesn't have a drop off immortal blood in her. Gale was a legacy.

"Since when don't you two like bread, any way?" Annabeth asks.

"Mom has never liked bread. This is the first time I've seen her eat it when there was other food or she didn't make it," Gale replies.

"I get that, but why?" Annabeth asks.

"Et Ossa Hominum Panem. What does that mean, Annabeth?" Frank quizzes.

To Gale's surprise, the translation pops up in his head immediately, even though it's not English. The translation is very disturbing and it shows up on his face, and Annabeth's once she gets it.

"Human bones bread," She says.

"What's Et Ossa Hominum Panem?" Katniss asks, "I mean, other than the translation."

"It's a delicacy in the capitol that shows up after the Hunger Games," Hazel answers. Katniss is horrified.

The elevator stops, and a computer voice says, "Identifacation needed." It is the voice of Chiron.

"Is that?..." Annabeth trails off.

Hazel pushes a button, "Hazel Levesque, half-blood, daughter of Pluto. Frank Zhang, half-blood, son of Mars. Annabeth Chase, half-blood, daughter of Athena. Gale Hawthorne, legacy of Pluto. Katniss Everdeen, mortal," she says.

The doors slide open. Behind the doors is a forest. In the distance, you can hear roaring from various monsters. It is sunny, which is strange, since they're underground. Hazel passes through, and the voice says, "Identifacation accepted." The same for Frank.

When Annabeth attempts to pass through, the voice says, "Identifacation unaccepted."

"What? But I'm a half-blood!" Annabeth protests.

"Oh, it doesn't recognize you, because you're not registered. Put your hand on that and it will register. I'm sure he'll apologize when he realizes it's actually you," Hazel instructs.

Annabeth and Gale do so, and it accepts them. When Katniss tries, she is rejected.

"Why won't it let me through?" Katniss asks angrily.

"You don't have any immortal blood. Don't worry, dear, I'll take care of that," Hazel reassured her. Katniss shoots her an angry look as she bangs on the magical barrier that instituted itself in the elevator door way. "I Hazel Levesque give you, Katniss Everdeen, permission to enter Camp Half-Blood salvaged," Hazel says. Katniss enters cautiously.

"Thank you," Katniss snarls. Hazel shrugs it off.

"Annabeth, someone, actually, two someones are waiting to see you," Hazel says. They begin walking through the forest.

"Don't forget the hell-hound," Frank reminds her.

"Oh, yes, right. Mrs. O'Leary is waiting as well, although, I doubt she'll be friendly. She only likes Percy and Tyson," Hazel says.

"What. Are. You. Two. Talking about?" Katniss asks.

"You'll see!" Frank says cheerfully, "Or not, since you're mortal." They come across a clearing, where there are twenty small houses, each decorated differently than the last. The six head away from this.

"Mortal, as in you aren't?" Katniss asks.

"Well, technically I'm not, because of that stupid blessing, but yeah. Same for Hazel, Annabeth and Gale," Frank replies.

"Wait, what? I'm not mortal?" Gale asks, totally confused.

"You're a legacy. So, mortal, meaning you won't live forever, yes, but not totally. You have some, if very little, immortal blood," Annabeth answers, which doesn't help. "Hazel, where are we going?" Annabeth asks.

"We're here," Hazel said, as they approached a two-story house.

"It looks so similar…except smaller," Annabeth mourns.

"I know. We couldn't salvage all of it, but we did manage to save the first two stories," Hazel says. "Oh, and the weather vane, except there's no wind down here. Wind spirits are the ones spinning it."

Annabeth walks up the porch and into the house. Hazel and Frank follow her, followed, reluctantly, by Gale and Katniss. Annabeth gasps when she sees Chiron. He is still wearing his tweed jacket; his beard looks like it hasn't been trimmed in a while; and he is in wheelchair form.

"Annabeth… I'm so sorry about that incident in the elevator. If it happens again, we may need to lower our security," Chiron jokes. Annabeth chuckles.

"Hazel and Frank told me they were the only survivors. How are you still here?" Annabeth asks.

Chiron sighs, "I still mourn for the heroes, both Roman and Greek. I have been down here for many, many years, because I survived the war."

"Yeah, but you said that you were immortal when you were needed. If there aren't any demigods then you're not needed, right?" Annabeth argues.

"Monsters don't die," Chiron replies, and Hazel notices his eyes sort of twinkle. Hazel knows that he is talking about Tyson, who isn't really a monster, and that he had been training him.

Annabeth thinks about it, "Tyson?" she asks after a while.

Chiron nods. "And in the beginning, Frank and Hazel, though they left. Now I will train you…again. And these two?"

"Gale is a legacy, and Katniss, well, she's—" Hazel stops.

"Mortal," Chiron finishes. "Well, as long as she can fight and is on our side, she is welcome. We let Rachel into camp,"

"Where is Rachel?" Annabeth asks.

"I'm afraid she died, and since there was no one else to take up the position…well, I think you know the rest," Chiron answers. Rachel became a mummy, like the last oracle of Delphi. Annabeth shuddered thinking about the time she had gone to visit it.

Hazel looked around and noticed her son was missing. "Where—" Hazel stops when her son comes back in, wide-eyed. Apparently, he had explored the house.

"You have a mummy upstairs," Gale stammers.

Chiron is about to reply, when Annabeth says, "Hey, let's go start training!"

"Alright. I'm sure you'll find everything you need behind the Athena cabin. We salvaged all of the weapons, although, I regret to inform you they might be a bit dusty," Chiron warns.

Annabeth bolts from the house,(no longer may it be called big, it's only two stories} and runs for the smaller versions of the cabins. Hazel and Frank aren't sure where she is going, so they follow and encourage the others to do so as well, though, they aren't paying attention. Annabeth dashes behind the Athena cabin(it's more like a shrine, now) and comes back, shaking.

"Annabeth, what's wrong, you look like you've seen a ghost," Katniss says.

"S-s-s-spiders," Annabeth shudders.

"You're afraid of spiders?" Gale asks, teasingly.

"It's an Athena thing. Don't tease," Hazel scolds.

"Sorry," Gale apologizes.

Frank finally decides that he's going to clear out the spider, and once he does, Annabeth goes in and finds everyone a weapon. Katniss and Gale go for the bow and arrows. Frank tries something new, and Hazel wishes that she had her spatha with her. Annabeth eventually convinces Gale and Katniss to try another weapon, incase there is any hand-to-hand combat.

Hazel trains her son, who seems surprised to see that his mother is skilled in fighting. Frank trains Katniss, and poor Annabeth, not really, is forced to practice against a practice dummy.

"Annabeth?" comes a voice. Annabeth turns around to see a fifteen foot tall Cyclops.

"Hello," Annabeth replies. She doesn't recognize Tyson, who has grown in the past 100 or so years.

"Annabeth, you don't recognize me? Tyson?" Tyson asks.

"Tyson? My, you've grown," Annabeth squeaks.

"Where is Percy? I miss him." Tyson says, sadly.

Annabeth's voice cracks, "He's in the capitol, probably being tortured."

"Oh," Tyson says in a small voice.

Annabeth goes back to destroying the dummy. Hazel watches as Tyson leaves, wiping his eye, and Gale disarms her holding his sword up to her neck.

"Ah, I let myself get distracted. You win," Hazel says, scooping up her borrowed sword. She begins to spar again, when Chiron walks up…in horse form.

"Okay you five. It's time to go back upstairs. If you stay any longer, people will start to suspect you and we don't want that," Chiron says. "You may leave your weapons here, if you like. The officials will take them away, and we can't afford them analyzing it now."

"What the… you're a horse!" Katniss exclaims, much to Hazel's surprise.

"Actually he's a centaur," Annabeth corrects. Katniss continues to stare at Chiron in surprise and dismay. Gale does as well, but his mouth doesn't hang open, and he doesn't say anything.

They all leave the swords, but the demigods have to coax Katniss and Gale into focusing on things other than Chiron.


	3. Chapter 3 Percy learns

Percy enters his cell after some pretty harsh torturing. The guards said something about using tracker jackers, but they didn't.

Percy thinks about two weeks ago.. He and Annabeth had been escaping Tartarus when the doors slid open. Percy didn't try to fall out. He was clutching the doors. Percy lost conciousness midair. When he woke up, he felt great. He realized he was in the middle of a salt lake. That explained why he felt so good. He surfaced and looked around for Annabeth.

"Annabeth!" he called. Percy started exploring the jungle, when he came across two guys. One was blonde, the other had almost no hair, and what he did have was black. The blonde one was young, and stared at Percy as if he had appeared out of thin air. The other was older, and wore ill-fitting glasses. He was busy doing something with some wire.

"Hi…have you seen Annabeth?" Percy asked. The boy's lips moved, but no sound came out. The older man looked around at Percy, and was about to ask him something when the sky literally fell apart.

"Run!" The man said running. Percy didn't understand why he should run, but since the teenager was running, he ran as well. When lightning struck the tree, he heard a scream. It sounded exactly like Annabeth. Annabeth would never ever scream, cry, or show any weakness unless it was for a plan or she couldn't control herself.

Not knowing which it was, Percy ran to it, in time to see his girlfriend, in definite pain, being pulled up by a hovercraft.

Percy couldn't stop the tears from rolling down his face, but he yelled his girlfriend's name.

"Percy!" Annabeth replied. She yelled his name over and over. Percy could hear the pain in her voice. "Take him too! Take Percy, or let me go!" She yelled. Percy realized she was yelling at the hover craft. She was pulled in and Percy hasn't seen her since.

A woman walked up to Percy. "Who are you? How did you get here? Are you from the capitol?" She asked distrustfully.

"Percy Jackson," Percy said slowly. The woman looked him up and down and hefted an ax.

"That sounds like a capitol name. Are you from the capitol?" she asked.

"Uh…I'm from New York." Percy said.

"Where?" the woman asked.

"New York. Who are you?" Percy asked.

"I am Johanna Mason. Don't you know who I am?" Johanna said.

"Uh, are you famous? I really don't know. I spent the last eight months in asleep," Percy said. He decided to tell the truth, incase Johanna used her ax on him.

The other boy, whom Percy had seen before, walked up, and then they all got netted. Percy had been in traps before, so he pulled out Riptide. Before he got the chance to uncap it, he was electrocuted by the net.

Percy woke up in the cell with the blonde boy who was staring at him. He didn't have Riptide, which was weird, since it would magically return to his pocket no matter where he lost it.

Percy thinks about this as he watches a spider make its web. Peeta gets tossed in next to Percy. Peeta, the blonde boy from the jungle, looks terrible.

"How does the torture not hurt you?" he asks weakly.

"I don't get wet," Percy replies.

"When we met you, you were wet!" Johanna yells through the wall.

"I wanted to be wet then. The water helps," Percy yells back.

"And the fire. How does the fire not hurt you?" Johanna asks.

"Heat resistant," Percy yells.

"Shut up!" yells another voice. Percy recognizes it. It's one of the other people who got abducted in the jungle. Percy doesn't know her name.

A guard walks in. Peeta recoils. The guard pulls Percy out. "President Snow wants to talk to you," the guard explains as he walks Percy out of the building. The go into a black car and drive.

The car stops outside a large house. They walk inside and wander around until they come up to an office room. The guard shoves Percy inside. A very old man is waiting for Percy and motions for him to sit. Percy does, very cautiously.

"Long time, no see, Percy," President Snow says casually.

Percy doesn't know who Snow is. "Uh…"

"Don't you recognize me, Graceus?" Snow asks. Percy shakes his head. "Well, I guess that's fair, for I thought you were dead, these past 100 years. How sweet they have been, too."

"100 years?! Man, Annabeth and I have been in Tartarus for a long time. I know time passes differently in there, but this is crazy!" Percy exclaims.

"Yes, it has been a long time. Your friends all died. Except for the traitors," Snow says coldly.

Percy kind of recognizes the way he crafts his sentences. "You sound familiar," he says.

"Finally, the old praetor recognizes. Praetorship isn't no biggie. It is what gave me this power. It was a pleasure killing your friends, by the way. Too bad you weren't there to fail at stopping me. I could have killed you too." Snow says.

Percy realizes fully who this guy is. "Octavian? You killed my friends? I am gonna strangle you!" Percy jumps out of his chair to strangle Octavian, but at the snap of his fingers, guards are restraining Percy.

"Frank and Hazel, you said they survived. Where are they?" Percy asks angrily.

"I haven't a clue. I executed Hazel, but I think she lives, again," Octavian says. He picks up a remote and a screen turns on. On the screen is a middle-aged woman with dark skin and gold eyes. "Although, this face looks familiar, wouldn't you say?"

Percy studies the screen. She looks a lot like Hazel, but if Octavian killed her once, Percy was sure he would do it again. So, he says, "Who is that?"

"That is Hazelle Hawthorne. Resident of District 12. This footage is from when we were interviewing her son. Watch."

Octavian pushes a button. On the screen, the camera pulls out and shows four children sitting next to her.

"Hello Hawthorne family!" says Caesar Flickerman. Percy recognizes him from the interview he and Peeta had with him two weeks ago.

"Hi," the little girl says.

"You must be Gale's sister," Caesar says. The little girl beams and nods furiously. Percy focuses on Hazelle. Hazelle's eyes are flitting around looking at the cameras, at the floor, at Caesar, at something in the distance, probably the door, and back again.

"Do you mind if I interview Gale first and then the rest of you one by one?" Caesar asks.

"Sure," Hazelle says, and ushers her three youngest children out.

Octavian pauses the clip. "Very familiar, wouldn't you say?" Percy shakes his head.

"Well, then let's watch her interview, shall we?" Octavian asks. He forwards the footage to Hazelle's interview.

"So, Hazelle, is it?" Caesar asks. Hazelle nods. "Hazelle, what a pretty name."

"Thank you," Hazelle replies.

"So, you must be proud of your niece," Caesar says.

"Yes, well," Hazelle tugs on her shirt sleeve, "She is very determined. I can't say I like watching children killing children. I remember, when I was younger, a bunch ofmy friends died. I still see them in my dreams." At this point, Hazelle breaks down into tears.

"Oh, dear." Caesar comforts her.

"They died of starvation, which is common here in Twelve. When you leave, I want you to look very carefully at the people. Look at how starving they are," Hazelle requests.

Caesar nods. "I will. I promise."

"Anyway, that's why I think Katniss will win. She knows how to be hungry, and will be able to survive," Hazelle recovers. "May I go now?"

"Actually, I have some more questions. From President Snow," Caesar says, "Although if you don't—"

"Will they be aired?" Hazelle asks.

"Oh," Caesar listens on his earpiece. "No."

"Then no. I will only answer if this is live. I want everyone to know what their beloved President thinks about me," Hazelle answers coldly. She turns the tv on. The camera shows the tv, which is an endless tv on tv on tv and so forth. The camera focuses on Hazelle and Caesar again.

"Very well then. Good day, Hazelle Hawthorne," Caesar says, getting up. The last of the footage is Hazelle picking something up and slipping it into her pocket. The camera didn't capture what it was.

Octavian looks back at Percy. "Are we sure that that's not the same Hazel?" Percy nods, still lying through his…okay, he's not speaking, but still.

A man walks in. "President Snow, you're needed. It's time for an interview," he says.

Octavian sighs and walks out. His guards follow him. Percy can hear the door lock.

He jumps up and fails to get the door open. He tries the windows, with the same luck. Disappointed, Percy sits back down. He turns the tv on, expecting to see one of the other interviews. Instead he sees something much different. It's footage of that woman, Hazelle.

Hazelle hops out of a window. She looks around, and apparently doesn't notice the camera. She runs to a meadow and sits under the shade of a tree.

"I was pushing my luck with the name Hazelle, wasn't I?" she asks herself. "And still, I haven't found Frank again."

She tucks her knees in between her elbows and stares at ground. She spots something on the ground and jumps up.

"I thought I had finally gotten rid of you!" she screams.

"There's no getting rid of Mother Earth, child." A deeper voice said out of Hazelle's mouth, but it definitely wasn't her.

"No! Get out! Get out of my head!" Hazelle screams.

"Hazel Levesque, do you really want me gone? We could do great things together," Hazelle says in the other voice.

Hazelle crams her hands over her ears. "No! Get out! Get out! Get out!"

"As you wish…Are you sure?" says the deep voice.

"You corrupted my mother. You made me rise Alceyones. You killed Jason and Leo. I've never wanted nothing more than to be rid of you. These last three decades have been almost pleasurable,"

"I could reunite you with Frank," the voice says.

Hazelle hesitates. "If it means you'll be sticking around, I'll pass, thanks. Now, get out of my head, Gaea!" Hazelle collapses.

Percy scoots to the edge of his seat. He knows that she is Hazel. He thinks she died or at least fainted.

Hazel starts to stir, but it looks like it is too painful for her. A girl walks runs up to her, followed by a cat. She crouches down by Hazel and pats her.

"Hazelle! Are you all right?" the girl asks.

Hazel looks up at the girl and sits up. "Yes, Prim, I am fine."

"I should take you to my mother," Prim argues.

Hazel shakes her head. "No, my problem is way past your mother's skills."

"Will petting Buttercup help you?" Prim asks scooping her cat up and putting it in Hazel's lap.

"For a little while. I'm just worried about saying the wrong thing during my interview," Hazel sighs.

She sits there petting the cat, who's staring directly at the camera, suspiciously.

Percy pulls the tape out of the tv. He knows that if Octavian got a hold of it, he would do something horrible to Hazel. Percy stomps on it until it is no more than many little pieces and tape. Percy looks around for something to strip the tape with. He looks on the desk and sees a pen. Percy picks the pen up and uncaps it. It springs into Riptide.

"Octavian had it?" Percy asks, amazed. He wonders how Octavian did it. Percy hears the lock jiggle as someone tries to get a key in, and he jams the cap back on just in time for a guard to open the door. The guard pulls him out and takes Percy back to his holding cell.


	4. Chapter 4 Frank Zhang the Great

Chapter IV

After sleeping in Tartarus for the past two weeks, and then spending two more weeks in a hospital bed, Annabeth is grateful that Katniss offered to let her crash at her place. Annabeth stares at the ceiling after being woken from a nightmare about falling into Tartarus again, this time without Percy. She may not be in Tartarus anymore, but the dreams are still just as strange.

Annabeth turns over in bed and falls back asleep. In her dreams, she sees Percy splashed with water. She doesn't understand what's going on until the water crackles with electricity. Percy cries out in pain. She sees the same scene, but with that other boy, Peeta.

Annabeth sits up in bed, panting. She wanders into another room, where she finds Katniss.

"Couldn't sleep either?" Katniss asks.

Annabeth nods. "Nightmares."

"Me too. Good thing it's almost morning," Katniss replies. Annabeth smiles. "Just a curious question, what were your nightmares about?" Katniss says.

Annabeth's smile drops. "Oh, multiple things really. First, falling into Tartarus, _again_, this time without my boyfriend-"

"What's Tartarus?" Katniss interrupts.

"So, earlier, we were training. We were training to kill monsters, should they attack," Annabeth says. Katniss sighs out of relief. This, Annabeth doesn't understand, but she ignores it. "Only, when you kill them, they don't die. They are merely dispelled to Tartarus, where they resurrect and wait for the Doors of Death to arrive to come back to the mortal world and terrorize half-bloods some more. Half-blood is another word for demigod." Katniss nods to show her understanding.

"And you fell in right before the Dark Days," Katniss says. Annabeth furrows her eye brows, but nods.

"Yeah, before that idiot…" Annabeth stops and looks around the room. "Di Immortales! I forgot we were underground! If Gaea wasn't really put back to sleep, she could squash us to a pulp! Yikes! I gotta get outta here!"

"I don't like the underground either. My dad died in a mine accident," Katniss comforts her.

"I'm going paranoid. There are other demigods under ground. The ones that helped me to attempt to defeat Gaea are here as well," Annabeth says to make herself feel better.

"So, how many went anyway?" Katniss asks.

"_Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,_" Annabeth recites.

Katniss counts to nine on her fingers. "But there was you, Percy, Hazelle, Frank, Nico, Reyna, Leo, Jason, and Piper. That's nine," she says.

"What? Reyna? Reyna didn't come," Annabeth says.

"Frank talked about a Reyna," Katniss argues.

"That must have been after Percy and I didn't come out of Tartarus. We rescued Nico out of a bronze jar, according to Percy. I wasn't there; I was _underground_ trying to find my mother's enemy and save the Athena Parthenos," Annabeth smiles at the memory of how she tricked Arachne into unraveling the statue.

Katniss nods, and the clock dings. "It's time to get our schedules. Follow me." Katniss leads Annabeth to her bedroom. Katniss sticks her arm in the wall. Annabeth puts her arm in afterward and feels ink being printed on her arm. She looks at it.

"Uh, first is…" she struggles to read it.

"First is Preparation, which means what it sound like it means. You prepare for the day," Katniss explains. Annabeth lets out a sigh of relief. "Don't you know how to read? I think they taught reading in the Dark Days," Katniss says.

"I know how to read!" Annabeth complains defensively. "It's just I'm dyslexic, so the words jumble around in my mind."

Katniss's look softens. "Oh. This wouldn't have anything to do with being a half-blood?"

"Yeah. I hope we don't have to do any reading for hours," Annabeth says. Katniss checks her schedule.

"Yeah, if we did have that, I'd skip it anyway," she smiles.

"May I join you? I'm also ADHD, so reading and boring do not mix," Annabeth chuckles.

They get ready for the day and catch up with their friends in the dining hall. Annabeth demands information out of Hazel and Frank.

After much recalling, Hazel finally says, "I can stop this world from existing. We gotta kill Octavian."

"Hazel, I'd love for this to stop, but I'm not quite sure that I would be willing to go through Tartarus again," Annabeth sighs.

"You won't have to! Well, you will, but not all of it!" Hazel explains. "You remember I trained with Chiron before Octavian found me," she asks.

Annabeth nods. Hazel is about to say more when she is interrupted by an official. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but eavesdrop. Did you just say that you trained with Chiron? I think we need to take you to a hospital. Chiron was a myth from long ago," he says.

"I wish the myths from long ago were that, myths. No, instead, they have to be real and we have to be stuck here because of it," Frank groans.

"I'm honestly fine. That was a…"

"It's just a little game we play. We're huge Greek and Roman myth fans, and we pretend that we live the lives of ancient heroes," Annabeth covers. Frank and Hazel release their breath and nod vigorously.

"Huh, I like that too. Can I play?" he asks, testing their loyalty to this lie.

"Sure, pick your favorite god or goddess, then pick Roman or Greek. Then, ditch all of your perceptions of life. They change a lot when you live like us," Annabeth says.

"Yes. Never separate yourself from your weapons. We would follow this rule, but we're not allowed to carry weapons, so we don't have them," Hazel says.

"You're life is going to be sooo fun!" Frank promises.

"Yes, because getting attacked by monsters at every turn is super fun!" Annabeth says.

"You know, I don't think I want to join anymore," the officer says, walking away.

"I'm with you. Too bad I don't have a choice," Annabeth sighs.

Another officer takes Gale and Katniss down to train. Not with Chiron, of course. Hazel leaves for her duties as well.

Annabeth and Frank(mostly Frank) read their schedules. "Lovely! A history of Panem lesson!" Annabeth groans.

Frank is an unusual shade. They leave to the school.

"Now, I know you two are old enough to be out of school, but this is just the history. Please begin," the instructor says.

Annabeth groans. Luckily for her, her dyslexia isn't acting up too much. Thank the gods!

"Frank Zhang the Great?" she asks, suspiciously.

"What? You didn't know I helped build this place? Too bad Octavian knows it. If you read ahead, you'll see that I fled the place to keep it safe."

"Wow, Frank! I'm proud," Annabeth compliments.

"These books are wrong, anyway," Frank says. Before he gets to explain, the teacher walks up to him.

"Oh, they are, eh? Would you care to teach the class the real history?" he asks. The rest of the class turns their heads to Annabeth and Frank.

"Oops. Go do something, Frank Zhang the Great," Annabeth hisses.

"Okay! You are all in for a treat!" Frank says ecstatic. He walks up to the front of class.

"Hello! Who knows who Frank Zhang the Great is?" Frank asks.

One kid raises his hand. "Frank Zhang the Great was the leader of District Thirteen. He and Hazel Levesque were outraged at the Capitol. They made sure that District Thirteen was kept on the hush-hush to the other districts. They didn't leak out where we were exactly, for President Snow wanted them dead. Hazel Levesque got captured, and Frank Zhang the Great left in sorrow because he didn't want anyone else in Thirteen to be captured again."

Frank claps. "Do you know about Frank? Let's just call him Frank. He never like his title. Trust me, I know. You won't believe how."

Annabeth raises her hand and starts _ooh_-ing. Frank ignores her and looks around.

Finally, someone other than Annabeth raises his hand. "Legends say that Frank Zhang the Great could turn into other animals," he offers.

"Frank," Frank says. "Yes, those aren't legends."

No one else offers up any information. Finally, Annabeth is given her chance. "Frank was a half-blood. His father was a Roman god. Mars, god of war. He lived way back before the Dark Days, or Panem. He was chosen to go on a quest to Greece to stop the giants from waking up Gaea. They stopped in Rome. They took a statue called the Athena Parthenos. In the process, two of their party accidentally fell into a deep pit called Tartarus. The two trekked out, fighting monsters at every turn, befriended a Titan and a friendly giant who tried to get them—"

The kid who had raised his hand before interrupts, "I thought this was a lesson on Frank Zhang the Great."

"I don't know what happens to the rest after the two fall in! If I may continue, they befriended these two people who try to get them out on the Doors of Death, but then instead of plunging back into the mortal world, they are left in Tartarus dead. It is true that Frank can shape-shift, he once turned into an iguana to get out of a pair of Chinese handcuffs. He is immortal and unable to age. And, finally, he's standing in this room."

The people in the room are shocked into silence. Not that they were talking, but now they are speechless.

Finally the kid raises his hand again. "Frank Zhang isn't in this room! He wouldn't need to go to history class," he scoffs.

"Well, maybe the officials didn't recognize me," Frank says.

"You are _the _Frank Zhang?" one girl asks. Frank nods.

Annabeth and Frank are escorted down to the important part of Thirteen.

President Coin bows. Frank pulls her to her feet and begs she never does that again.

"If you join forces with the Mockingjay, we could take over the government and stop President Snow!" she says enthusiastically.

"But, has Katniss agreed yet?" Annabeth asked.

President Coin nods. "Yeah, but it took a while to get her to agree. She gave the victors immunity, and a bunch of other conditions," she says.

"I know Percy isn't a victor…whatever that is—"

"Thank the gods," Frank interrupts.

"—but will he get immunity too?" Annabeth asks. "If you guys go to the capitol and get the victors. They are torturing them!"

"I'm sorry, miss," President Coin says.

Annabeth feels hatred boiling up inside of her. Frank steps in and says, "Please, we need him."

Coin thinks about it. "Fine. If we—"

"When we," Frank corrects.

"_When_ we go to the Capitol, we will also get Percy. Happy?" Coin asks, clearly unhappy.

"Yes," Annabeth replies.


End file.
